The present invention generally relates to hutches or cabinets, in a preferred form to hutches for storing and displaying china or the like, and particularly to hutches having frames formed of relatively low strength material such as glass.
During the storage and/or display of objects, it is often desirable to utilize as much glass as possible to maximize the viewing potential of the object. Although having strength against compressible forces, glass has relatively low strength when subjected to forces in other directions. Thus, prior to the present invention, separate structural members were utilized to form the frame of the hutch and/or to support the shelves inside of the hutch. Such structural members detract from the ability to visually observe objects displayed therein from relatively all angles without obstruction.
It should also be noted that prior cabinet designs, although utilizing tension rods, also utilized sectional partitions to support the shelves and the top which detracted from visual observation but also were generally inflexible in allowing variation in the number and positioning of shelves. Likewise, although some prior cabinet designs utilized rods as frame components, the support devices for objects in the cabinet extended between and relied upon at least two of such vertical rods, thus requiring such support devices to be of a relatively large size which also detracts from visual observation.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a unique hutch which minimizes the detraction from the visual observation of the interior of the hutch and the objects displayed therein. In a first aspect of the present invention, independent shelf supports of a relatively small size are independently adjustably positioned on at least three vertical rods arranged in a non-linear arrangement, with the shelf extending between and resting upon the shelf supports. It is thus an aim of the present invention to support shelves in a hutch with components of minimal size for reduced transport size in an unassembled condition and for reduced visual and physical space in the interior of the hutch.
In a further aspect of the present invention, the first and second ends of the hutch are compressively captured in members on the inner surfaces of the top and bottom. It is thus an aim of the present invention to allow the frame of the hutch to be formed of relatively low strength material such as glass, with the structural support having a minimal presence to detract from the visual and physical space of the hutch interior.
The present invention will become clearer in light of the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment of this invention described in connection with the drawings.